Mary White

Mary Lillian White later Mary Dening (22 January 1930 – 20 May 2020) was an English textile designer known for several iconic textile prints of the 1950s. Her designs were very popular and extensively copied in many 1950s homes, as well as in cabins aboard the and at Heathrow Airport.

Biography White was born in 1930, in the town of Margate in Kent. She was trained as a textile designer and studied textile design at the Thanet School of Art and Crafts. White was designing during the same period as British textile designer, Lucienne Day.

To create her designs White drew on the work of William Morris, images of flowers and of the countryside where she grew up and lived throughout her life. In turn her work has influenced leading fashion designers such as Mary Quant, Laura Ashley and Sir Terence Conran.

Examples of White's designs are held by several British museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Warner Textile Archive in Essex and the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. White's textiles were used on the RMS Queen Mary ocean liner and, as curtains and coverings, at Heathrow Airport. White's design work is included in books on the subject of 1950s textile design, such as 20th Century Pattern Design (2002) by Lesley Jackson.

Pottery White was also involved in Thanet Pottery, having also studied pottery at Thanet School of Art and Crafts. Thanet Pottery was a collaboration between White (then using her married name of Dening) and her brother, David White. Thanet Pottery made hand painted slip cast earthenware pottery and their items were sold to High Street chains in the early 1960s.

Mary White was interviewed and included in the BBC One show The 1952 Show, Episode 2 which aired on 27 March 2012.